Benches with benefits: Bench programs help build community spirit, foster new friendships

If the trend continues, Edmonton may become known as a city where spending time on a bench is highly encouraged. The number and variety of public benches has expanded exponentially this summer, bringing neighbours together.

Nancy Rempel, Edmonton Journal

Updated: August 25, 2017

Colourful benches have popped up around the Holyrood neighbourhood this summer, thanks to a program by the South East Edmonton Seniors Association. Ryan Garner

If the trend continues, Edmonton may become known as a city where spending time on a bench is highly encouraged. The number and variety of public benches has expanded exponentially this summer, bringing neighbours together.

Colourful benches have popped up around the Holyrood neighbourhood this summer, thanks to a program by the South East Edmonton Seniors Association. Ryan Garner

Colourful benches have popped up around the Holyrood neighbourhood this summer, thanks to a program by the South East Edmonton Seniors Association. Ryan Garner

Colourful benches have popped up around the Holyrood neighbourhood this summer, thanks to a program by the South East Edmonton Seniors Association. Ryan Garner

Poydras the English bulldog enjoys a seat on one of the colourful benches that have sprung up around the Holyrood neighbourhood, thanks to a program by the South East Edmonton Seniors Association. Ryan Garner

Colourful benches have popped up around the Holyrood neighbourhood this summer, thanks to a program by the South East Edmonton Seniors Association. Ryan Garner

Colourful benches have popped up around the Holyrood neighbourhood this summer, thanks to a program by the South East Edmonton Seniors Association. Ryan Garner

Tommy Kuntz with his grandmother Dianne Kuntz, sitting on a Buddy Bench, part of the Hello, How Are You?campaign that is aimed at preventing social isolation. Ed Kaiser/PostmediaEd Kaiser

Colourful benches have popped up around the Holyrood neighbourhood this summer, thanks to a program by the South East Edmonton Seniors Association. Ryan Garner

Colourful benches have popped up around the Holyrood neighbourhood this summer, thanks to a program by the South East Edmonton Seniors Association. Ryan Garner

Colourful benches have popped up around the Holyrood neighbourhood this summer, thanks to a program by the South East Edmonton Seniors Association. Ryan Garner

In Holyrood, volunteers at the South East Edmonton Seniors Association (SEESA) have built 20 wooden benches as part of the community’s ‘Aging in Place’ initiative. The colourful benches — with some even accompanied by decorative throw pillows — dot the neighbourhood’s leafy boulevards with invitations like “Sit a spell” and “Don’t worry, be happy.”

Building community

Under the $2,500 program, volunteers at SEESA bought supplies and built the free benches, which come with a chain to secure them, and a $25 gift certificate for paint. In hindsight, Buehler wishes they had applied for funding for another 10 or 20 benches. The benches are still available to purchase from SEESA, but at a cost of $100 each.

Kim Buehler is a longtime Holyrood resident and the executive director of SEESA. She spearheaded the effort to apply for funding to build free benches after attending a seminar five years ago, where she learned about the dearth of outdoor seating for seniors. That’s when she placed a bench in front of her home. Buehler was surprised by both the response, and the age range of users taking advantage of the rest stop.

“When families are walking with young children, they let their children run ahead and say ‘Wait for us on the bench.’ I would just be home on a random day, and a couple or one guy might be sitting there. A guy in a wheelchair and his partner might be sitting there — it was amazing.”

The benches have been built from scratch under the guidance of SEESA volunteer Harvey Norstrom. He says they are so popular that 30 more have been commissioned, and now invite passersby to take a break in Rimbey, Pigeon Lake, and as far away as Saskatchewan. Norstrom lives in Maple Ridge Trailer Court in southeast Edmonton, and placed his varnished bench across the street from his home.

“There’s a lady who walks her dog, and every day she sits and rests for a few minutes. A couple kids were out the other day sitting on it for a while. There’s an area here that’s all grass and a few trees, and they play out there, and then they were sitting on the bench eating a popsicle, I think,” he says with a chuckle.

Justine Leszczynski was the first Holyrood resident to request a bench after hearing about the program. Her dark purple bench doubles as a bus stop rest, and coordinates with the flowers in her front yard. She followed suggestions about where to place it, and can see who is using it from inside her home.

“It’s surprising, the amount of people we see sitting on the bench,” says Leszczynski, adding that recent sightings include a teenager reading a book. She has no reservations about encouraging individuals and other communities to provide front yard rest stops. “It just creates a great community atmosphere. I can’t speak highly enough of it.”

Bench benefits

Holyrood isn’t alone in embracing the bench benefits. In June, the City of Edmonton unveiled its Buddy Bench program under its ‘Hello, How are You?’ campaign. Chelsey Anseeuw is the social planner for the city’s urban isolation and mental health initiative. She says the campaign’s goal is to create a more supportive and friendly Edmonton.

Students are encouraged to use the seating at any time — but especially if they want someone to play with or talk to — and other students will join them. Anseeuw says the city’s campaign is to “create awareness about the link between social interaction and a feeling of belonging, which benefits our mental and physical health. It is also to encourage Edmontonians to say hello to a neighbour or passerby.”

The idea for the labeled seating came after 11-year-old Tommy Kuntz approached a city employee about making benches — like the rainbow-coloured Buddy Bench in Hazeldean’s playground — available for people like his grandmother, Dianne Kuntz, who experienced loneliness after she retired.

Anseeuw says the benches have been strategically placed in well-lit, high-traffic areas with large senior populations, including downtown, Westmount, Century Park and Mill Woods. She describes the benches as the city’s first call to action. Fifteen surplus transit benches bear the campaign’s logo, and conversation starters like “What is your favourite place to visit in Edmonton?” have been unveiled around the city.

Feedback on the pilot program has been positive so far, with several residents contacting the city to ask for benches to be placed in their neighbourhoods or in front of their homes. Anseeuw says the city also has two portable benches that are available for the public to borrow.

Legacy project

The Hello, How Are You program follows the example set by the Edmonton Catholic School Board’s (ECSB) decision to place Buddy Benches in each of its schoolyards. Edmonton Catholic School District students hosted a work bee in 2016 to build 90 Buddy Benches aimed at fostering friendships and inclusivity. That’s when ECSB assistant principal and Lions Club member Patti Liogier suggested a joint project to celebrate her service organization’s 100th anniversary.

“My club, the Southgate Lions Club, was looking for a legacy project that was going to serve as many people as we could. I mentioned the idea of making a buddy bench for each elementary and K-9 school within ECSD.”

With the full support of superintendent Joan Carr, Liogier asked staff and students at St. Joseph High School to host a bench building workshop. The Southgate Lions paid $10,000 for materials, which the school’s construction and welding teachers helped students pre-cut and label with brass plates in advance. Liogier says the build was planned for May to recognize St. Joseph the Worker Day, with schools city-wide sending a teacher and up to three students to finish assembling the benches.

“On the day, there were 169 elementary students with helpers, building their own benches, and also benches for schools that were not able to come. The day was amazing,” says Liogier, adding that the partnership has created a legacy of service for both organizations.

The seating, which includes Lions Club logos, now graces elementary and junior high schoolyards across the city. And, more are on the way. Buddy benches are planned for each of the Catholic district’s five new schools, which will open this fall.

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